VATICAN – Declaring that the Catholic Church is unafraid of history, Pope Francis announced that documents in the Vatican Secret Archives relating to the wartime pontificate of Pope Pius XII will be open to scholars in 2020.

BEIJING – The president of China's state-sanctioned bishops' conference has pledged to work with the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association to develop the Sinicization of religion in the communist nation.

We hear much about the situation of the persecuted Christians in the Middle East, but lets not forget about the persecution of Christians in Asian countries. 

In the winter of 1964, Parliament was a hotbed of debate. With Canada’s 100th birthday just two-and-a-half years away, politicians were busily trying to come to some sort of agreement on a new national flag to replace the Red Ensign. The Great Canadian Flag Debate officially began in June 1964 and after six months of often bitter argument, it finally ended on Dec. 15, 1964 as the Liberals invoked closure, much to the chagrin of Conservative leader John Diefenbaker. Two months later, the new flag flew for the first time, prompting this letter to The Catholic Register editor from an unnamed seminarian at Toronto’s St. Augustine’s Seminary.

XUANHUA, China – Four priests from the underground Catholic Church in China's Hebei province have been taken into police custody for indoctrination, AsiaNews reported Monday.

BEIJING, China – As part of an ongoing crackdown on religious practice in the country, Chinese authorities demolished two Catholic Marian shrines this week. The move comes just one month after the Chinese government signed an agreement with the Vatican regarding the appointment of bishops.

HONG KONG – The recent agreement between the Vatican and China is a step towards the “annihilation” of the Catholic Church in China, Cardinal Joseph Zen, former bishop of Hong Kong, wrote in a New York Times op-ed published on Wednesday.

VATICAN – The Catholic Church must help not only its own young people but also non-Catholics to become active members in society and true disciples in a chaotic world, a Venezuelan observer told the Synod of Bishops.

HANOI, Vietnam – Vietnam has freed a well-known Catholic blogger and rights activist jailed two years ago for posting anti-government material on social media and forced her into exile in the United States.

BANGKOK – Bishop Joseph Guo Jincai, one of two Chinese participants attending the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican, concelebrated Mass with St. John Paul II twice in 1995. Although he was a member of the government-approved Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association – not recognized by the Vatican – it was only after his illicit ordination as a bishop of the Chinese-designated Diocese of Chengde that he was automatically excommunicated.

VATICAN – Setting the stage for a monthlong gathering of bishops, Pope Francis urged synod fathers not to be crushed by "prophets of doom," but to be the signs of hope and joy for which today's young people yearn.

WASHINGTON – Debate continues about whether the Vatican's provisional agreement with China will improve relations between the Chinese state and members of religious groups, which have had a long history of conflict.

VATICAN – The recent Vatican-China agreement on the nomination of bishops seeks the true good of the church, the promotion of preaching the Gospel in China and the re-establishment of the church's full and visible unity, Pope Francis said in a message to Catholics in China and worldwide.

AGLONA, Latvia – What would Mary do? was the question Pope Francis, in effect, asked Latvian Catholics gathered at their nation's popular Marian shrine.

VILNIUS, Lithuania – For the first time in decades, all of the Catholic bishops in China are in full communion with the Pope, the Vatican announced.